LINXX Academy of Martial Arts
“Linking Practical Defense and Personal Development”
Monthly Newsletter
March 2009
In this Issue
Ten Ways to Eat for an X Frame Junior LINXX Sparring Tournament Birthdays Work Wisely to Maintain Health and Happiness Calendar of Events
Ten Ways to Eat for an X Frame
If you're looking to get wide where it counts - your shoulders, back, chest, and legs - without getting wide in the waist, then you're going to need to observe a few nutritional guidelines. These 8 tips will help you put on the mass you seek in the places you seek it without stretching your beltline. 1. Be A Calorie Counter How do you find the proper calories that will put on lean muscle while allowing you to keep your midsection ripped? There's no one-size-fits-all answer. However, for most people engaged in regular physical activity, shooting for somewhere between 16-20 calories per pound of body weight will do the trick. We suggest you start with 18 calories per pound (that's a little over 3200 calories per day for the 180-pounder). Keep an eye on your progress. If you're not gaining enough muscle but are getting ripped abs, bump up your calories toward 20. If you find that 18 calories is also packing mass on your waist, drop down toward 16. 2. Focus on Protein Protein provides the amino acids that are literally used as the building blocks of muscle protein. When trying to put on mass you should actually try to get in 1 to 1.5 grams per pound. For the 180pounder, this means 270 grams per day at the outset and a bare minimum of 180 grams thereafter. Your protein choices should come mainly from animal proteins such as chicken, turkey, beef, fish, eggs and dairy, as these are your most complete protein sources, meaning they provide your body every essential amino acid, defined as those your body cannot manufacture on its own.
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Junior LINXX Sparring Tournament
On March 28, 2009 LINXX will be holding an intramural sparring tournament for Junior LINXX student’s ranked green belt and above. Brackets will be broken down by rank and weight class with the first match starting promptly at 10am. The event will be broken down into preliminary and final matches, each with their own rules. During the preliminary matches, competitors will be restricted from punching to the head. Knee strikes are allowed only to the midsection, and elbows are illegal. During the finals, competitors will wear protective head gear, 16oz sparring gloves, and will be allowed to strike to the face. There will be a ten dollar fee paid at the time of registration for all competitors. In order to have ample time to make the brackets, we ask that all registration forms be submitted by Saturday, March 21st. Please see the front desk for more information and registration information.
Birthday Parties in February
We would like to thank Jaxon Dick, Paige Schneider, Kyler Freesmeier, and Ryan Brereton for celebrating their birthdays with us.
Questions, Comments, Concerns, or Recommendations? Please contact Ryan Russo, Program Manager at 757-495-7070 or admin@linxxsecurity.com
www.linxxacademy.com
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LINXX Academy of Martial Arts March 2009
X Frame
3. Watch the Carbs Carbs are essential nutrients for packing on mass, but getting too many carbs is a fast way to build muscle mass and waist mass. That's the last thing you want for building an X-frame. Going lower in carbs is the best way to do this. A diet that is less than 2 grams of carbs per pound of body weight or less will keep insulin levels steady, which will allow you to keep burning fat throughout the day while still putting on lean muscle. We suggest you keep carbs even with protein and go with about 1.5 grams per pound of bodyweight (270 grams for the 180 pounder). 4. Slow Burning Carbs Select carbs that are slow-digesting or low Glycemic Index (GI) carbs. Foods like whole-wheat products, most fruits, and sweet potatoes digest slowly and therefore help to keep insulin levels steady despite consuming carbs. 5. Fast Burning Carbs (Post-Workout) Immediately after your workouts (within 30 minutes) is the time to consume fast-digesting or high GI carbs. This is the one time when you need to spike insulin. Having high levels of insulin after workouts will not blunt fat burning. It's the only time of day this is possible. At this time, insulin will also boost muscle growth and drive the glucose from those fast carbs, as well as the amino acids from your post workout protein shake, into your muscles. Shoot for about 40-100 grams with your post workout shake. 6. Fat Does Not Make You Fat When trying to strategically build muscle while losing midsection fat, you may be tempted to eat a very low-fat diet. But that is the last thing you'll want to do. About 30% of your total daily calories should come from fat (about 120 grams for the 180-pounder). And unlike the sedentary, general population who are recommended to eliminate their saturated fat intake, 5-10% of your fat calories should be saturated, as research shows that higher fat diets (particularly those higher in monounsaturated and saturated fats) appear to maintain testosterone levels better than lowfat diets. Maintaining optimal testosterone levels is paramount to building muscle mass and strength and avoiding fat gain - exactly what you need to build an XFrame. Go with red meats such as steaks and ground beef for your saturated fats (these also provide quality protein). Avocados, mixed nuts, olive oil, olives, and peanut butter will provide you ample monounsaturated fats and fatty fish (salmon, trout, sardines), flaxseed oil, and walnuts are good sources of essential, omega-3, polyunsaturated fats.
continued from page 1 7. Frequency Counts Eating steadily throughout the day helps you both gain mass and stay lean. It provides you ample calories to grow muscle and keeps your metabolism revved up so you stay lean. Eating a meal that contains quality protein and carbs every 2-3 hours ensures a steady supply of energy and amino acids for muscle growth all day long. Each meal should be approximately the same size. If possible, aim for at least six meals per day, and shoot for eight total. For the 180-pounder, eating about 3200 calories per day, 270 grams of protein, 270 grams of carbs, and about 120 grams of fat would provide a little over 500 calories, 45 grams of protein, 45 grams of carbs, and 20 grams of fat per meal (pre- and postworkout meals will be slightly different) over six meals. 8. Before Bed Snack When you sleep, you essentially fast for 7-9 hours (or for however long you sleep). With no food available, the body goes to your muscle fibers for amino acids to fuel your brain. Before going to bed every night, try to consume 30-40 grams of a casein protein shake (look for ones containing micellar casein) or 1 cup of low-fat cottage cheese, as well as 2-3 tablespoons of flaxseed oil, 2 ounces of mixed nuts or 2-3 tablespoons of peanut butter. This is one meal where you'll want to avoid the carbs.
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LINXX Academy of Martial Arts March 2009
Maintain Health and Happiness
Work Wisely to Maintain Health and Happiness
Article by: Gabriela Cora, MD, MBA
In some instances, people work so much that the pressure starts taking a toll on their health. Many don’t seek help until they are experiencing medical problems. Although stress can be motivating and inspiring, too much stress may trigger anxiety, depression, headaches, increased blood pressure, or gastrointestinal problems. Why does this happen? When we over exhaust our bodies or our minds, instead of producing more and increasing our earnings, we run out of ideas, unable to think of positive ways to resolve our challenges. We get stuck on the problems and have trouble looking at all options for a positive resolution. Instead, when we keep busy, but we are able to refresh our minds, we are then better able to make the sound decisions that will have a positive impact on our ability to build our wealth. The following are some tips to assist you as you strive to increase your earnings while working fewer hours: 1. Think of effective hours of work rather than number of hours of work: You may believe that you are the only one who can do everything that you do, but keep track of your activities. You will be surprised when you realize how you distribute – or waste – your time. Common traps include the constant use of email, BlackBerries, PDAs, or phones rather than allocating time to respond to emails, for example. 2. Set up clear priorities: Make sure that you achieve what is high on your list and that you discard the actions that have been on your list but that haven’t been done in months or years. It’s time to let go. If you claim that everything is an emergency, you will fall in the trap of responding to fires all the time rather than creating ways to increase your earnings. 3. Have a plan: Most people don’t have a plan and many who do leave it in the drawer without checking their progress. By having a plan, you can constantly follow your progress and decide whether you are achieving your desired goals and earnings. Without a plan, you will end up busy and exhausted and will continue to have more busyness and exhaustion. If you have never created a plan, this is a great time to start. 4. Cut down your working hours from 16 to 12 or from 12 to 10: What would you do if you were forced to work less hours and be more efficient with your time? Unfortunately, many feel pressured to do this after they have become too sick to work many hours or when life circumstances have impacted upon their ability to work. By creating a sense of urgency and efficiency, you can force yourself to become more focused, more effective, and more productive. 5. Find effective ways to relax: If you are an executive or entrepreneur and you are leading under pressure, you will need to find and integrate times to eat, exercise, sleep, and relax in your busy schedule. Avoid too much caffeine during the day and the negative cycle of daily caffeine and alcohol or hypnotics at night. It is not a matter of whether someone who is overworked will exhaust his or her energy; it’s a matter of time: When will they burn out? Learn relaxation techniques, including guided imagery or meditation. Listen to music or find a hobby. In addition to these strategies, exercising is a must for busy corporate warriors and business owners. Repetitive exercises tend to be the best to help de-stress. Others prefer Yoga and Tai Chi. Nothing beats sleeping well at night.
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Calendar of Events - March 2009
Sunday
1 2
Monday
3
Tuesday
4
Wednesday
5
Thursday
6
Friday
7
Saturday
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
BUDDY DAY!!!
St. Patrick’s Day
15 16 17
Permissions slips available at front desk
18 19 20 21
22
*Normal class in session* *Normal class in session* *Normal class in session* 23 24 25 26
Junior LINXX Testing Junior LINXX Testing White thru Green Blue thru Red Tip @ 5pm @ 5:30pm Adult Thai Boxing Red One thru Review and Pre-test Brown/Black All Ranks @ 6pm @ 6:30pm
Adult Jiu-Jitsu Graduation @ 7:15pm
Graduation for All Junior LINXX @ 5pm Adult Muay Thai @ 7pm
No regular classes 27 28
Junior LINXX Sparring Tournament Begins promptly at 10 am
*Normal class in session* 29 30 31
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